What we've harvested so far

Well this year has been an excellent year, so far. However, not without some sweat off the brow.  I'm gonna keep this short and sweet, because we all know you just want to see the inspirational pic(k)s, the fruit of our labor, the reaping of our sow (?), alright enough of that. Up first..


Spinach

There was a ton of spinach, before we blanched it.  It shrinks considerably when cooked, so we'll definitely need to grow more.  At 8 lbs. of spinach we'll figure $12 total.


Peas

These are your standard sweet pea.  As you can see we have a few over-ripe ones in here, but we'll use 'em anyway.  These peas took 2 people a combined 5 hours of shucking.  Yikes that's a ton of work.  The flavor of some is great, most are only ok.  Notes for the future, pick sooner, before the pods start turning yellow.  Also, invest in a shucking machine, they are on Amazon for as low as $25.

We did end up with 6 quarts, it felt like 10 pounds.  So we'll figure about $20 worth of veggies.

Potatoes

What better staple for long storage than potatoes?  High in energy and, umm.. productive?  I'd say we got less than we could have.  I'm not sure if I should attribute that to the soil (which is mediocre), the seed spuds from Walmart, or some other factor I haven't yet thought of.  This is from 2lb. seed and doesn't really show everything I planted (I still have 20 plants in the ground).  All in all, we've got 30 lbs. so far.  We'll compare the yield of our last harvest, which looks to be better.

These are some delicious potatoes, a more earthy flavor and buttery in texture.  I'll say $2.99 for 5lbs. so $18 total.

Raspberries

You can tell a raspberry is ripe because it pulls away from the center and they practically fall off when pulled. These are a treat to harvest, especially around breakfast time.

We managed to a few pints of berries, some went straight in the freezer.  I expect as these plants develop we'll double or triple the production.  Since I love berries, that's not enough.  We've started another raspberry and I have plans for 3 more blackberry vines started next spring.  We also had a few blueberries, which are really challenging in Utah due to the alkaline soil.

Overall 8 pints, and at $2.99 a pt. that makes $24.00, and they taste good to boot!

Last but not least..

Garlic

We planted these last fall, and it's been a joy to watch them grow.  I loved harvesting, drying and cleaning the garlic because it makes everything smell so damn good, even though it lingers on the fingers.  After they hang for a couple weeks in a dry well ventilated area, garlic is relatively easy to prepare for storage.  Just wipe off the dirt, and when needed, peel back a layer of "skin" to reveal a fresh clean layer.

Just this morning I cleaned mine, first by cutting the tops off with clean pruners, it was better than coffee.  Trim the roots back (I just twisted them off).

I'll only store the unblemished bulbs.  Overall 21 bulbs, or 5 lbs. These are very nice gourmet garlic, so $25 total.

Other than that, we harvested a ton of strawberries, although I didn't count how much  We also already have 14 jars of pickles and I think the cucumbers will be the winner in overall productivity (again).  We've just started dabbling in fresh and dried herbs, using fresh dill & dried coriander with our pickles, and screwing up a batch of chamomile.  There's definitely more to come.

Growing Garlic

I've been anxiously watching, and the garlic is finally poking up.  Planting garlic is best done in the fall.  These plants actually do much better when they experience the harsh winter months, tucked deep under the soil's surface (about 3 inches).  Now like onions, which are also of the Allium genus, it's easier to plant a pre-developed bulb or clove.  Of course you can plant from seed but the bulb plantings come up much sooner and grow much more vigorously (although I've heard transplanted onions grow larger).

This medicinal and culinary herb has been cultivated
for thousands of years.  

It is thought to have originated from central and
southwestern Asia, and has since traveled the world
with the help of humans.

I'll not get into all the health benefits of garlic, but I did find this snippet over at tonicfoodclub.com:  

"Garlic is one of the most powerful foods.  The list of benefits and uses is impressive.  Here are just a few:

• lowers cholesterol
• prevent blood clots
• reduce blood pressure
• prevents cancer in 3 ways:
• helps the immune system fight cancer cells, inhibits tumor cell metabolism and reproduction of cancer cells
• protects against bacterial and fungal infections."

So when fall is approaching and you're thinking of putting the garden to rest for the year, go ahead and buy a bulb of good seed garlic and find a few nice spots to grow this amazing plant.